March 30 deadline approaching for CARB on-road registry

Truck owners whose trucks drive in California have until Friday if they want more compliance time for CARB’s most expensive truck rule.

The Truck and Bus Rule registry is a database used by the California Air Resources Board to keep track of the hundreds of thousands of commercial vehicles that operate in California annually. The Truck and Bus Rule, also known as the “Retrofit Rule,” will require trucking fleets to either install diesel particulate filters or upgrade their trucks.

If truck owners who operate in California and have a fleet of three or fewer trucks they report by March 30, they have more flexibility and time to comply with the Truck and Bus Rule. CARB suggests reporting all trucks that have 1996 to 1999 model-year engines.

Signing up ahead of schedule could allow truck owners to delay certain requirements of the rule, saving a business thousands of dollars or more given the right combination of retrofit or engine upgrade.

Before truck owners submit their information, however, they should know the possible consequences should their truck’s engines be older than the model year of the truck itself.

OOIDA Director of Regulatory Affairs Joe Rajkovacz has urged caution for truck owners as they consider repowering their truck with a different engine.

“Replacing the original engine with an older model year engine can be a violation of the Clean Air Act, thus exposing the truck owner to huge fines,” Rajkovacz said in January.

For more information, truck owners may call 1-866-6DIESEL or visit the CARB Truckstop website.